Baseball Begins Eight-Game Road Trip
3/12/2009 4:27:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Baseball kicks off an eight-game road trip, and begins Southern Conference play, Friday night (March 13) at UNC Greensboro. First pitch in the three-game series is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday. Saturday and Sunday is scheduled to start at 2 and 1 p.m., respectively. With Spring Break next week, the Eagles will also play at North Carolina A&T on Monday afternoon (March 16), a 1 p.m. start.
Every baseball game can be heard on www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com and via the Georgia Southern Radio Network, flagship station Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro. Ryan Chambers will call the game and the broadcast will begin 30 minutes before first pitch.
The Eagles improved to 12-2 overall following their 24-9 win over Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday. That is the best 14-game start to a season since the 1979 team opened the year 13-1.
Reigning Southern Conference ?Player of the Week' Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) leads the hitting attack at .468 with 15 runs scored and 14 RBI. He owns a .552 on-base percentage and is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases. The senior catcher was named to the College Baseball Foundation ?National Honor Roll' this week as well.
Ty Wright (Montrose/ABAC) improved his average to .347 with 15 runs scored and 12 RBI. He leads the team in stolen bases, 5-for-5. For the sixth time in his career, junior A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bryant) hit two home runs in a game, tallying five RBI in the win over Bethune-Cookman.
Senior shortstop Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) carries a streak of 183 consecutive starts into this weekend. It's currently the second-longest active streak in the NCAA. Second baseman Kevin Bowles (Statesboro/Statesboro) is batting .360 with a .575 on-base percentage.
Junior Chris Mederos (Valdosta/Andrew College), sophomore Andy Moye (Alpharetta/Alpharetta) and freshman Matt Murray (Spring City, PA/Owen Roberts) are scheduled to start this weekend on the mound.
Mederos improved to 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA following his win over Indiana last weekend. He has struck out a team-high 24 batters in 18.2 innings. Moye stands 2-0 with a 3.78 ERA, striking out 13 in 16.2 innings. Murray earned his first collegiate win thanks to a victory over #20 East Carolina. The true-freshman right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings, striking out 14 batters.
Overall the Eagles own a .324 team batting average, 977 fielding percentage and 3.86 ERA. Last year GS swept the regular season series against the Spartans (14-2, 20-6 and 10-9), then took the SoCon Tournament opener 21-9 but would be eliminated for the second straight year by the Spartans, losing 12-9.
UNCG (2-8 overall, 0-3 SoCon) is coming off a 4-1 win over Old Dominion Wednesday. The Spartans were swept in their conference-opening series against College of Charleston. Coming into the series, UNCG owns a .223 team batting average, .940 fielding percentage and 8.48 ERA.
Trevor Edwards leads the hitting attack at a .333 clip with six RBI. Senior Greg Martin (0-2, 6.92 ERA) has struck out 11 batters in 13 innings. Alex Shelton (0-2, 8.68 ERA) has allowed 14 hits in 9.1 innings pitched. They are scheduled to start Friday and Saturday, respectively, with Sunday's starter to be determined.
